Blog Status/General Rant

I've been meaning to post this for a while now, and after a conversation with Invictus over the weekend I figured now is as good a time as any.

This site has been in existence for over 10 years now, starting out as a music site with the odd posting about politics. Once Bush v. Gore happened and then the 9/11 attacks, the focus of the blog shifted nearly entirely to politics. When we started covering politics here at B3, there weren't a whole lot of us doing it. The outrage of the Bush II Era had just manifested itself, and there was plenty of outrage to go around and a ready audience to read what we posted.

Then Blogger happened, and a lot of people started blogging about politics. And once that happened, B3 held its own for a while - but as the landscape changed and people started to see political blogs as a source of advertising revenue in addition to a handy place to complain about Bush, the ''A' List' Blogosphere took shape and guys like us took a hit, but we kept going.

And now we're into a different era, where a Democrat is in the White House. But it seems like the same battles are being fought over and over again, now against chowder-headed media personalities and obstructionist Republicans (redundant, I know). As I wander from blog to blog reading about The Latest Fucked Up Thing Rush Limbaugh Said or What Crazy Glenn Beck Lied About On His Show or (Insert Republican Member Of Congress' Name Here) Has Set A New Standard for Irrational Hatred, I realize that I have very little to add to the discourse at this point.

Yes, I'm jaded. I'm pretty much over political blogging. Here's why.

There are literally thousands of political blogs out there. Most of the ones on the liberal side cover the same events, express the same viewpoints, draw the same conclusions. Many of them say what they have to say much better than I can, and between those blogs and the ones who can't say it better than I can the noise level is unbearable. The snark isn't really that funny any more - how many times can someone type 'IOKIYAR' or refer to John Boehner as 'Boner' before you're totally over it?

I can visit Daily Kos and I can guess the content and style of posts now just by looking at the poster's name. I won't impugn anyone's enthusiasm or commitment to the cause of their choice, but look - we've all been doing this for years now. Style points have been established, and some days the output of blogs both left and right is nothing but sheer repetition.

I really don't have the interest in running a full-time politics blog any more. The political climate in this country is way beyond toxic, and those who have the stomach for it can and probably will keep going. Good for them. Don't give up The Good Fight.

Me? I'm going to go back to a pre-9/11 Mindset here, if you will. The slogan for Blah3.com prior to Bush's presidency was 'Music, Media and Pop Culture.' That's coming back, because I find music much more interesting that pointing out tat Glenn Beck is an asshole for the 50,000th time.

My thanks go out to the B3 staff that has posted here for years - you guys added content to this site for free, and it was a pretty lively place for a while there. And if any of you want to still contribute political content, you are more than welcome. I'm going to go in a different direction at this point, but I don't expect any of you to just follow. Someone like Invictus has taken his expertise to a place where it is better appreciated and more widely read than it was here, and I can't fault him for it. He was a voice in the wilderness here regarding the economy, and what's worse is he was right - and there were very few eyeballs recognizing that fact. Someone with Invictus' level of expertise should be as widely read as possible, and he'll have my eternal thanks for contributing so much to this site.

But I gotta go where my heart leads, and unfortunately it's not leading me in the direction of the Endless Kabuki Dance that is modern politics in the United States. Sorry, not that interested.

I've located literally years of music reviews of some fine independent artists that disappeared from the site as we jumped from format to format, and those archives will be added to the site over the coming weeks. And if you're an idependent artist that has music for review, contact me and I'll listen to it and give my take on it.

And I'd like to thank everyone who thought enough of what we were doing here to come and read us every day. You're welcome to keep coming back, but there's really no point in trying to find a different way to say what thousands of other people are saying.

Time for something new. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.